Circuit fault detection system and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are a circuit fault detection system and method for a circuit fault detection. A circuit fault detection system includes: a detection circuit including a diode, a first resistor, and a second resistor, positioned between an applied voltage source and a top of a detection target circuit in series, and a third resistor and a fourth resistor, positioned between the detection target circuit and a ground in series, an input unit including a first input terminal receiving a voltage measured between the first resistor and the second resistor, and a second input terminal receiving a voltage measured between the third resistor and the fourth resistor, a controller detecting a failure in the detection target circuit and in an operation of the detection target circuit based on values of the voltages detected by the input unit; and a display unit providing a warning to a user when the failure is detected.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.2015-0184926, filed on Dec. 23, 2015 in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a system for detectingan error that may occur in a circuit and a control method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, it is not easy for an integrated circuit (IC) system todetect errors therein.

For example, when an operating temperature in an IC or a power supplyvoltage significantly changes or a short circuit to ground, a powerconnection, or an open circuit phenomenon occurs in the circuit, a faultoccurs.

Since a fault continuously occurs when a part in which a problem occursis not quickly checked when the fault occurs, circuits used in ahigh-risk product family such as cars may result in property damage orhuman life damage due to such a fault.

In addition, research on a control method for detecting an error in acircuit at a low cost is, such as a case in which a circuit errordetection system is ensured using a circuit diagram composed only ofresistors which are passive elements except for diodes in order todetect a fault in a circuit, continuously progressing.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when circuit errorsare detected, a circuit composed only of resistors which are passiveelements except for diodes is used so that detection of circuit errorsis achieved at a low cost.

In addition, the circuit fault detection system and method for circuitfault detection according to the embodiments can detect variousmalfunctions by assigning resistance values without overlapping voltagevalues of input nodes when conditions for possible errors areclassified.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, apossibility of error occurrence is determined by expecting dataregarding possible errors in stages, and data regarding an error whichhas occurred is obtained.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, whenconditions for possible errors are classified, resistance values areassigned without overlapping voltage values of input nodes, so thatvarious malfunctions are detected.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a circuit faultdetection system includes: a detection circuit including a diode, afirst resistor, and a second resistor, which are positioned between anapplied voltage source and a top of a detection target circuit inseries, and a third resistor and a fourth resistor, which are positionedbetween the detection target circuit and a ground in series; an inputunit including a first input terminal configured to receive a voltagemeasured between the first resistor and the second resistor as an input,and a second input terminal configured to receive a voltage measuredbetween the third resistor and the fourth resistor as an input; acontroller configured to detect a failure in the detection targetcircuit and in an operation of the detection target circuit based onvalues of the voltages detected by the input unit; and a display unitconfigured to provide a warning to a user when the failure is detected.

The first to fourth resistors of the detection circuit may have valuesgreater than equivalent resistance values of the detection targetcircuit.

The controller may include error data that occurs in at least one of thedetection target circuit or the operation of the detection targetcircuit based on the values of the voltages detected by the input unit.

The controller may control the error data to be displayed to the userwhen a failure which matches the error data is detected.

A failure that occurs in the detection target circuit may be one of anopen circuit in the detection target circuit, a short circuit tobattery, and a short circuit to ground.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a circuitfault detection control method comprises: which a detection circuitincluding a diode, a first resistor, and a second resistor, which arepositioned between an applied voltage source and a top of a detectiontarget circuit in series, and a third resistor and a fourth resistor,which are positioned between the detection target circuit and a groundin series, measuring a first voltage between the first resistor and thesecond resistor; measuring a second voltage between the third resistorand the fourth resistor; detecting a failure in the detection targetcircuit and in an operation of the detection target circuit based on avalue of the measured first voltage and a value of the measured secondvoltage; and providing a warning to a user when the failure is detected.

The failure in the detection target circuit may include an open circuitin the detection target circuit, a short circuit to battery, and a shortcircuit to ground.

The method may further comprise measuring a voltage value at a top ofthe detection target circuit and a voltage value at a bottom thereof inorder to detect an error in the operation of the detection targetcircuit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent andmore readily appreciated from the following description of theembodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a detection circuit fordetecting a circuit fault according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit fault detection system.

FIG. 3 is a table illustrating monitoring conditions according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a table stored in the electronic control unit in order todetect detailed failure information in the detection target circuit

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of the circuit faultdetection system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The followingembodiments are provided to fully convey the scope of present disclosureto those skilled in the art. The present disclosure is not limited toonly the embodiments provided herein, and may be embodied in differentforms. Parts irrelevant to description will be omitted in the drawingsin order to clearly explain the present disclosure, and sizes ofcomponents may be slightly exaggerated to help understanding of thepresent disclosure.

First, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a detection circuitfor detecting a circuit fault according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit fault detectionsystem including a first input unit and a second input unit of thedetection circuit of FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a detection target circuit may be positionedin a rectangle 1 indicated by a dotted line. Specifically, the detectiontarget circuit 1 may be positioned at a power supply voltage V1 appliedto the detection target circuit 1 and R_(L) indicated as an equivalentresistance in the detection target circuit 1.

The detection target circuit 1 may include a top switch, which isdisconnected from or connected to the power supply voltage V1 in orderto apply the power supply voltage V1 applied to the detection targetcircuit 1, and a bottom switch, which is disconnected from or connectedto a ground PGND.

The detection circuit according to the present disclosure includes anapplied voltage source V2, a diode D1, and four resistors.

The term “top” refers to a side closer to the applied voltage source V2,and the term “bottom” refers to a side closer to the ground.Specifically, the diode D1, a first resistor R1, a second resistor R2,and a first input unit, which measures a voltage value between the firstresistor R1 and the second resistor R2 may be positioned at the top ofthe detection circuit

In the above case, since the diode D1 is positioned just below theapplied voltage source V2, the power supply voltage V1 of the detectiontarget circuit 1 may prevent a current from flowing toward the appliedvoltage source V2.

Next, a third resistor R3, a fourth resistor R4, and a second input unitwhich measures a voltage value between the third resistor R3 and thefourth resistor R4 may be positioned at the bottom of the detectioncircuit.

Voltage values measured in the first input unit and the second inputunit may be transmitted to an electronic control unit 100 illustrated inFIG. 2, and the electronic control unit 100 may determine whether anerror exists in the detection target circuit 1 based on the receivedvoltage values.

Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit fault detection systemincluding the first input unit and the second input unit of thedetection circuit of FIG. 1.

Such a circuit fault detection system 1000 includes an input unit 10,the electronic control unit 100, and a display unit 400, as illustratedin FIG. 2.

The input unit 10, which includes the first input unit and the secondinput unit, transmits measured voltage values to the electronic controlunit 100.

In addition, the input unit 10 may include a voltage value V+ measuredat a contact point positioned below the top switch and a voltage valueV− measured at a contact point positioned above the bottom switch asinput values in order to detect a failure in an operation of thedetection target circuit 1.

That is, the input unit 10 may include the voltage values measured inthe first input unit, the second input unit, a V+ node, and a V− node asinput values.

Next, the electronic control unit 100 collectively controls the circuitfault detection system 1000 according to the present disclosure.

Specifically, the electronic control unit 100 includes a main processor200, which determines whether a failure exists in the detection targetcircuit 1 or the operation of the detection target circuit 1 based onthe received voltage values, and a memory 300 which stores various typesof data.

The main processor 200 determines whether a failure exists in thedetection target circuit 1 or the operation of the detection targetcircuit 1 based on error conditions illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Next, the memory 300 stores a program and data of the circuit faultdetection system 1000 according to the present disclosure.

Specifically, the memory 300 may include a volatile memory such as astatic random access memory (SRAM), and a dynamic random access memory(DRAM), and a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, a read onlymemory (ROM), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), and anelectrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM).

The nonvolatile memory may semi-permanently store a control program andcontrol data for controlling an operation of the circuit fault detectionsystem 1000, and the volatile memory may read the control program andthe control data from the nonvolatile memory to temporarily store theread control program and the control data, and may temporarily storevoltage values obtained from the input unit 10 and various types ofcontrol signals output from the main processor 200.

Therefore, the nonvolatile memory may permanently store error detectiontables illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 in order to control the operation ofthe circuit fault detection system 1000.

Specifically, FIG. 3 is a table illustrating monitoring conditionsaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 4 is atable illustrating detail error conditions according to one embodimentof the present disclosure.

First, FIG. 3 is a table stored in the electronic control unit 100 inorder to detect failure information on whether an open circuit of aninside of the detection target circuit 1, a short circuit to battery, ora short circuit to ground occurs.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the power supply voltage V1 may be connectedto the detection circuit while the power supply voltage V1 is notapplied in order to detect a failure in the detection target circuit 1,and in this case, whether a failure exists in the detection targetcircuit 1 may be determined based on voltage values measured in thefirst input unit and the second input unit.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in a case in which the voltagevalue measured in the first input unit is V2 [v] and the voltage valuemeasured in the second input unit is 0 [v], it may be determined that anerror in which the inside of the detection target circuit 1 isdisconnected has occurred, that is, is opened.

In addition, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in a case in whichthe voltage value measured in the first input unit is V1 [v] and thevoltage value measured in the second input unit is the same V1 [v], itmay be determined that an error in which the inside of the detectiontarget circuit 1 is connected to a battery, which is an applied voltage,has occurred.

Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in a case in which thevoltage value measured in the first input unit is {R2/(R1+R2)}*V2 [v]and the voltage value measured in the second input unit is 0 [v], it maybe determined that an error in which the inside of the detection targetcircuit 1 is connected to the ground has occurred.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in a case in which the voltage value measuredin the first input unit is {(R2+R3+R4)/(R1+R2+R3+R4)}*V2 [v] and thevoltage value measured in the second input unit is {R4/(R1+R2+R3+R4)}*V2[v], it may be determined that no error has occurred in the detectiontarget circuit 1.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the main processor 200 may comparethe voltage values received from the first input unit and the secondinput unit to the error conditions of FIG. 3 to determine which problemhas occurred when an error occurs in the detection target circuit 1.

Next, FIG. 4 is a table stored in the electronic control unit 100 inorder to detect detailed failure information that may occur in thedetection target circuit 1.

In order to detect the detailed failure information that may occur inthe detection target circuit 1, the input unit 10 includes the voltagevalue V+ measured at a contact point positioned below the top switch andthe voltage value V− measured at a contact point positioned above thebottom switch in addition to the voltage values measured in the firstinput unit and the second input unit as input values.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when a voltage value measured inthe first input unit is V2 [v], a voltage value measured in the secondinput unit is 0 [v], R_(L) refers to equivalent resistances of thedetection target circuit 1, and it is determined that the circuit isdisconnected based on the voltage value V+ measured at the contact pointpositioned below the top switch and the voltage value V− measured at thecontact point positioned above the bottom switch, the electronic controlunit 100 may determine that an open circuit error such as a circuitdisconnection (an open load) has occurred while the detection targetcircuit 1 operates regardless of whether a top or bottom circuit isdisconnected or normal.

Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when a voltage valuemeasured in the first input unit is V2 [v], a voltage value measured inthe second input unit is 0 [v], R_(L) refers to the equivalentresistances of the detection target circuit 1, and it is determined thatthe circuit is disconnected based on the voltage value V+ measured atthe contact point positioned below the top switch and the voltage valueV− measured at the contact point positioned above the bottom, and evenwhen it is determined that the top circuit is disconnected or normal andthe bottom circuit is connected to the ground based on the measuredvoltage values, the electronic control unit 100 may determine that anopen circuit error such as a circuit disconnection (an open load) hasoccurred while the detection target circuit 1 operates.

Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the voltage valuemeasured in the first input unit is V2 [v], the voltage value measuredin the second input unit is {R4/(R3+R4)}*V1 [v], R_(L) refers to theequivalent resistances of the detection target circuit 1, it isdetermined that the circuit is disconnected based on the voltage valueV+ measured at the contact point positioned below the top switch and thevoltage value V− measured at the contact point positioned above thebottom switch, and it is determined that the top circuit is disconnectedor normal and the voltage value measured at the bottom is V1, theelectronic control unit 100 may determine that an open circuit errorsuch as a circuit disconnection has occurred while the detection targetcircuit 1 operates and an error in which the bottom circuit is connectedto V1, which is an applied voltage, has occurred.

Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the voltage valuemeasured in the first input unit is {R2/(R1+R2)}*V2 [v], the voltagevalue measured in the second input unit is 0 [v], R_(L) refers to theequivalent resistances of the detection target circuit 1, it isdetermined that the circuit is disconnected based on the voltage valueV+ measured at the contact point positioned below the top switch and thevoltage value V− measured at the contact point positioned above thebottom switch, and it is determined that the top circuit is connected tothe ground and the bottom circuit is disconnected, is normal, or isconnected to the ground, the electronic control unit 100 may determinethat an open circuit error such as a circuit disconnection has occurredwhile the detection target circuit 1 operates and an error in which thetop or bottom circuit is connected to the ground has occurred.

In addition, even when the voltage value measured in the first inputunit is {R2/(R1+R2)}*V2 [v], the voltage value measured in the secondinput unit is 0 [v], R_(L) refers to the equivalent resistances of thedetection target circuit 1, it is determined that the circuit is normalbased on the voltage value V+ measured at the contact point positionedbelow the top switch and the voltage value V− measured at the contactpoint positioned above the bottom switch, and it is determined that thetop circuit is disconnected or normal and the bottom circuit isconnected to the ground, or the top circuit is connected to the groundor the bottom circuit is disconnected, is normal, or is connected to theground, the electronic control unit 100 may determine that an opencircuit error such as a circuit disconnection has occurred while thedetection target circuit 1 operates and an error in which the top orbottom circuit is connected to the ground has occurred.

Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the voltage valuemeasured in the first input unit is {R2/(R1+R2)}*V2 [v], the voltagevalue measured in the second input unit is {R4/(R3+R4)}*V1 [v], R_(L)refers to the equivalent resistances of the detection target circuit 1,it is determined that the circuit is disconnected or normal based on thevoltage value V+ measured at the contact point positioned below the topswitch and the voltage value V− measured at the contact point positionedabove the bottom switch, and it is determined that the top circuit isconnected to the ground and the bottom circuit is connected to V1, theelectronic control unit 100 may determine that an error in which the topcircuit is connected to the ground and the bottom circuit is connectedto V1 has occurred.

Next, when the voltage value measured in the first input unit is{(R2+R3+R4)/(R1+R2+R3+R4)}*V2 [v], the voltage value measured in thesecond input unit is {R4/(R1+R2+R3+R4)}*V2 [v], R_(L) refers to theequivalent resistances of the detection target circuit 1, it isdetermined that the circuit is normal based on the voltage value V+measured at the contact point positioned below the top switch and thevoltage value V− measured at the contact point positioned above thebottom switch, and it is determined that the top circuit or the bottomis disconnected or normal, the electronic control unit 100 may determinethat the detection target circuit 1 operates normally.

Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the voltage valuemeasured in the first input unit is V1 [v], the voltage value measuredin the second input unit is 0 [v], R_(L) refers to the equivalentresistances of the detection target circuit 1, it is determined that thecircuit is disconnected based on the voltage value V+ measured at thecontact point positioned below the top switch and the voltage value V−measured at the contact point positioned above the bottom switch, and itis determined that the top circuit is connected to V1 and the bottomcircuit is disconnected, is normal, or is connected to the ground, theelectronic control unit 100 may determine that an error in which the topcircuit is connected to V1 has occurred while the detection targetcircuit 1 operates and an open circuit error such as a circuitdisconnection has occurred or an error in which the bottom circuit isconnected to the ground has occurred.

Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the voltage valuemeasured in the first input unit is V1 [v], the voltage value measuredin the second input unit is 0 [v], R_(L) refers to the equivalentresistances of the detection target circuit 1, it is determined that thecircuit is normal based on the voltage value V+ measured at the contactpoint positioned below the top switch and the voltage value V− measuredat the contact point positioned above the bottom switch, and it isdetermined that the top circuit is connected to V1 and the bottomcircuit is connected to the ground, the electronic control unit 100 maydetermine that an error in which the top circuit is connected to V1 orthe bottom circuit is connected to the ground has occurred while thedetection target circuit 1 operates.

Further, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the voltage valuemeasured in the first input unit is V1 [v], the voltage value measuredin the second input unit is {R4/(R3+R4)}*V1 [v], R_(L) refers to theequivalent resistances of the detection target circuit 1, it isdetermined that the circuit is disconnected or normal based on thevoltage value V+ measured at the contact point positioned below the topswitch and the voltage value V− measured at the contact point positionedabove the bottom switch, and it is determined that the top circuit isconnected to V1 and the bottom circuit is disconnected, is normal, or isconnected to V1, the electronic control unit 100 may determine that anerror in which the top circuit is connected to V1 has occurred while thedetection target circuit 1 operates.

Further, finally, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the voltage valuemeasured in the first input unit is {R1/(R1+R2)}*V1 [v], the voltagevalue measured in the second input unit is {R4/(R3+R4)}*V1 [v], R_(L)refers to the equivalent resistances of the detection target circuit 1,it is determined that the circuit is normal based on the voltage valueV+ measured at the contact point positioned below the top switch and thevoltage value V− measured at the contact point positioned above thebottom switch, and it is determined that the top circuit is disconnectedor normal and the bottom circuit is connected to V1, the electroniccontrol unit 100 may determine that an error in which the bottom circuitis connected to V1 has occurred while the detection target circuit 1operates.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 4, since the errors that may occur whilethe detection target circuit 1 operates may be categorized and stored inthe memory 300 of the electronic control unit 100, causes of faults inthe detection target circuit 1 may be easily found based on the voltagevalues obtained from the first input unit, the second input unit, the V+node, and the V− node.

Therefore, the electronic control unit 100 transmits the control signalto the display unit 400 so that a user may check a cause of a faultbased on the obtained voltage values.

Then, the display unit 400 may display the voltage values obtained fromthe input unit 10 and the errors that occurred in the detection targetcircuit 1 so that the user may check the voltage values and the errors.

A configuration of the circuit fault detection system 1000 according tothe present disclosure has been described above.

Hereinafter, FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of thecircuit fault detection system 1000 according to the present disclosure.

First, the circuit fault detection system 1000 according to the presentdisclosure determines whether the detection target circuit 1 is in anoperating step (S5). Specifically, step S5 refers to a step of detectingerrors such as an open circuit error in the detection target circuit 1,a short circuit to battery error, and a short circuit to ground errorwhile a power supply voltage applied to the detection target circuit 1is not applied.

In this case, when error conditions do not match (“NO” in step S5), astep of detecting a load error begins in order to detect an operatingerror of the detection target circuit 1 (S10).

To this end, the circuit fault detection system 1000 detects voltagevalues in first and second input units (S20).

In this case, when the error conditions match (“YES” in step S30), thecircuit fault detection system 1000 may transmit detected errorinformation to the display unit 400 to provide a warning to a user(S70).

When a load error is not detected, the circuit fault detection system1000 according to the present disclosure determines that the detectiontarget circuit 1 operates normally and allows the detection targetcircuit 1 to enter an operating state (S40).

As is apparent from the above description, the circuit fault detectionsystem and method for circuit fault detection according to theembodiments can detect an error in a circuit at a low cost, such as acase in which a circuit error detection system is ensured using acircuit diagram composed only of resistors which are passive elementsexcept for diodes.

In addition, the circuit fault detection system and method for circuitfault detection according to the embodiments can research on a controlmethod for detecting an error in a circuit at a low cost, such as a casein which a circuit error detection system is ensured using a circuitdiagram composed only of resistors which are passive elements except fordiodes in order to detect a fault in a circuit, continuouslyprogressing.

In addition, the circuit fault detection system and method for circuitfault detection according to the embodiments can determine a possibilityof error occurrence by expecting data regarding possible errors instages, and can obtain data regarding an error which has occurred.

In addition, the circuit fault detection system and method for circuitfault detection according to the embodiments can detect variousmalfunctions by assigning resistance values without overlapping voltagevalues of input nodes when conditions for possible errors areclassified.

While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have beenillustrated and described above, the present disclosure is not limitedto the aforementioned specific exemplary embodiments. Those skilled inthe art may variously modify the present disclosure without departingfrom the gist of the present disclosure claimed by the appended claims,and such modifications are within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A circuit fault detection system comprising: adetection circuit including a diode, a first resistor, a secondresistor, a third resistor, and a fourth resistor, wherein the diode,the first resistor, and the second resistor are connected to one anotherin series and are located between an applied voltage source and a top ofa detection target circuit, and the third resistor and the fourthresistor are connected in series and are located between the detectiontarget circuit and a ground; an input unit including a first inputterminal configured to receive a voltage measured between the firstresistor and the second resistor as an input, and a second inputterminal configured to receive a voltage measured between the thirdresistor and the fourth resistor as an input; a controller configured todetect a failure in the detection target circuit and in an operation ofthe detection target circuit based on values of the voltages detected bythe input unit; and a display unit configured to provide a warning to auser when the failure is detected, wherein the first to fourth resistorsof the detection circuit have values greater than equivalent resistancevalues of the detection target circuit.
 2. The system according to claim1, wherein the controller includes error data that occurs in at leastone of the detection target circuit or the operation of the detectiontarget circuit based on the values of the voltages detected by the inputunit.
 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the controllercontrols the error data to be displayed to the user when a failure whichmatches the error data is detected.
 4. The system according to claim 3,wherein a failure that occurs in the detection target circuit is one ofan open circuit in the detection target circuit, a short circuit tobattery, and a short circuit to ground.
 5. A circuit fault detectioncontrol method, the method comprising: in a detection circuit includinga diode, a first resistor, a second resistor, a third resistor, and afourth resistor, wherein the diode, the first resistor, and the secondresistor are connected to one another in series and are located betweenan applied voltage source and a top of a detection target circuit, thethird resistor and the fourth resistor are connected in series and arelocated between the detection target circuit and a ground; and whereinthe first to fourth resistors of the detection circuit have valuesgreater than equivalent resistance values of the detection targetcircuit; measuring a first voltage between the first resistor and thesecond resistor; measuring a second voltage between the third resistorand the fourth resistor; detecting a failure in the detection targetcircuit and in an operation of the detection target circuit based on avalue of the measured first voltage and a value of the measured secondvoltage; and providing a warning to a user when the failure is detected.6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the failure in the detectiontarget circuit includes an open circuit in the detection target circuit,a short circuit to battery, and a short circuit to ground.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 6, further comprising measuring a voltage value at atop of the detection target circuit and a voltage value at a bottomthereof in order to detect an error in the operation of the detectiontarget circuit.